Fresh Start, Fresh Blood
by missanimestranger
Summary: Coming from a broken home, Maria Sakura seeks refuge at her childhood friend, Yuki's school. But she has no idea that her fresh start will begin with the spilling of fresh blood. P.S I put Aidou down as he will become friends with maria later on.
1. fresh start

**Hi there, this is my first proper fanfiction! My other ones have either been crossovers or interviews, so please tell me if its good. This is also my first attempt of a romance so im really scared... I really want to know if I can do it, and any help will be much appricated, thankyou. Well with out further ado lets get on with it. Summery: Maria arrives at Cross Academy and gets a surprise party . But Zero semes upset about something. but What? **

Fresh Start, Fresh Blood

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

"At last, Cross Academy." Sighed Maria Sakura, as she dropped her heavy luggage beside her. She had taken the long journey by herself, five buses, two taxis and one long, steep trek up to the school itself. Maria looked at her watch.

_Come on Yuki… What's taking you so long?_

Maria's parents were good friends of the Cross's; as a result she and Yuki had become best friends. They spent a lot of time together. Sometimes both their families would spend the summer holidays with each other. Zero would groan and act all superior, whereas Maria and Yuki would run about, scream and tease him. Kaname would sometimes join them too, but he would usually sit in the shade and read a book. Maria found this funny as Yuki would often admire him from afar with her big auburn eyes when he did this. She would tease her and Yuki would try to cover up with an excuse like "I just wanted to see what he was reading". She and Yuki were like sisters, there was nothing she could hide from her. Her time with the Cross's was some of the best times she had had.

Maria had joined Cross Academy for a reason, a fresh start. Maria would be bold, hipper, loud and jolly but inside she was a very shy and quite girl who actually all she wanted to do was sit at home and read, watch her favourite anime and draw. When Maria started getting into manga and anime at 13 her life changed. People started treating her differently, laughed at her and made her feel small. She said she didn't care, but every time someone gave her a mocking comment or laughed at her, it was like a knife in the wound. She felt people were trying to make her something she wasn't, and after months and years of endless torment, she changed, she covered her tracks, her real self was just a memory in the mud. But she did not want to hide herself anymore, she wanted to be who she wanted to be, do what she wanted to do. A fresh start.

Yuki, Kaname and Zero were the people who made her feel special, like she belonged and she hoped Cross Academy would do the same.

"Maria!" Squealed Yuki as she belted down the pathway, towards her childhood friend. She stopped right before she ran into her.

"Yuki!" Said Maria, reaching down to hug her. After a warm embrace, Yuki broke away from her and examined her friend. She put her hand on her head and measured it up to Maria's.

"You've grown… A lot! _Great,_ that's another one taller than me." Yuki pouted, making Maria giggle.

"Why? Who else has?" Maria grabbed her bags and the girls made their way up to the school.

"The guys have always been taller than me. But now Yori is taller than me and im sure Zero's had a growth spurt, so there's no way im gonna catch up with him. Now Chihiro's the only one who's smaller than me." Maria raised her eyebrows into a question mark.

"Oh. You don't know her, she's one of my friends in the Day Class. I think you'll be sharing a room with her actually." Maria nodded. Yuki was happy to see her. Maria and her family hadn't come round in a while, so it was nice to see her happy and healthy. Yuki knew Maria like the back of her hand and she knew things hadn't gone well for her in the last couple of years, her parents had split recently and as she was living with her Mum. Yuki and Maria didn't get to meet; the headmaster was her Dad's friend more than her Mums so they didn't get many visits from them anymore.

Maria's parents seemed so happy; it was horrible to think that a family so happy and loving could be torn apart so easily.

They made their way to the Headmaster's private quarters. It was a Saturday so there were no lessons and the headmaster thought it was the perfect day to celebrate.

They made it to the door.

"Are you ready?" Asked Yuki.

When Yuki opened the door they were greeted by darkness. Then Yuki switched the lights on, and an exited man waving a banner saying "welcome" on it jumped from behind the sofa and shouted.

"Surprise!" Maria started laughing. But it was not at the headmaster, oh no, it was at the amusing image beside him. Sat on the sofa was a depressed Zero wearing a party hat and a party blower hanging from his lips that he blew off que. Maria studied Zero, he had grown to be quite handsome, with his silver hair and mysterious purple eyes, he would be perfect if he only smiled. Standing next to him was Kaname Kuran who was wearing his ever so graceful smile, fixed to his face, he too had grown up to be very beautiful. Maria knew everyone in this "Addams Family" (As she liked to call them) and knew that Kaname was actually thinking "Maria, I am too old for this stuff, don't try to persuade me". Unlike with Zero, Maria would not try to annoy him, Kaname was a very kind and caring person (especially when it came to Yuki) and she had an undying respect for him. Whereas Zero always seemed a sour puss. She knew that his parents had been killed so it was expected of him to be upset, but she had not once seen a smile on his face so she tried to cheer him up, but she wasn't good with the soppy stuff so she would tease him instead.

"Give me a hug, my daughter!" continued the Headmaster. _Not going to happen grandpa… _Maria stretched out her arms and instead of going to the Headmaster she skipped other to Zero and gave him a big hug, rocking him from side to side. Zero seemed in shock.

"Ohhh. Cheer up emo kid!" teased Maria poking him on the nose. Zero's cute, confused expression turned into that ugly scowl she always hated.

"Don't. Call. Me. An. EMO!" Roared Zero.

"Arrr! Kaname, save me!" She joked, putting her hand to her forehead as if she was a damsel in distress, and jumping behind Kaname, poking her nose out from behind his arm, Kaname chuckled. Yuki would usually join in at this point but she seemed concerned, Yuki, Kaname and Zero exchanged glances. Had she missed something? Yeah, Zero was always getting annoyed by her but he knew she didn't mean it. Why the fuss?

Zero swiped off the party hat, spat out the blower in disgust and headed for the door.

"Enough of this im leaving."

"Zero!" She called, trying to go after to him, but Kaname held her back with his strong arms and gave her a stern look. All Maria could let out was a weak "Sorry." as he left the room. Kaname sighed and dropped his arm. Yuki ran to her.

"Im sorry Maria, don't judge Zero too harshly, he's…"

"Not himself." Finished Kaname.

Maria knew she shouldn't worry. But after her recent experiences she knew Zero needed someone to look after him. He didn't need space he needed comfort. She knew she was probably asking for trouble but she didn't care. She didn't want their first meeting after 2 years to begin with an argument. Once dinner was over she would go find him.

"Right it's time for tea!" Sang the Headmaster, skipping in from the kitchen, he stopped and looked to were Zero had been sitting.

"Where's Zero?" His eyes narrowed.

"_Kaname,_ what did you do." Kaname was about to answer when Yuki butted in.

"Kaname did nothing! Zero just got angry at Maria for calling him an emo kid!" Then, under her breath.

"Which he is."

The Headmaster looked concerned for a moment but then shrugged it off and presented his latest creation.

"Margarita pizza, _my style_, coca cola, _my style,_ fruit salad, _my style, _vanilla ice-cream, _my style, _blood tab-"

"Okay, we get the picture." Said Kaname.

_Was he about to say blood tablets?_ She thought. Blood tablets had been something Maria had thought up as a kid. It had been Halloween and her family had been invited to this spooky mansion with the Cross's. The headmaster was telling the children a vampire story, Kaname, Zero and Yuki seemed completely un interested, but Maria was excited, she had never heard of vampires before and wanted to know more about these nocturnal creatures. The Headmaster had said

"_This man had a problem, when ate, he was not satisfied, when he drank, he was still thirsty, the only thing that destroyed his hunger was…" The kids rolled their eyes. But Maria leaned forward in excitement. "What was it ?" she had asked. The Chairman's eyes widened and his mouth grow into a smile, like a mischievous child. "Human, blood." He whispered. "Anything else?" She asked back. "No." "Wasn't there a tablet or some kind of medicine he could take?" All eyes were on here now. The tired, bored kids had suddenly become interested. "Why would you think such a thing?" Asked Kaname, looking up from his book. "Well, said it was a problem, all problems can be solved, right?" "Not this problem." Grunted Zero in disgust. "Don't be rude Zero." Said Yuki. All this time the Headmaster had been staring at Maria, and it was starting to creep here out. "Headmaster?" said Maria, bringing him out of his trace. The Headmaster jumped from the armchair he had been sitting on. "That's it!" He cried. "Kaname, that's it! Maria you are a genius!" He kissed her on the check and span her around the room. "You, my child are destined for greatness!"_

Maria never did discover what it was she had helped the headmaster and Kaname with that day. But she loved that feeling she got when he praised her, ever since her parents had split her mum had become self-absorbed, she didn't have time to care about her "pumpkin" anymore, as far as her mother was concerned, she was alone. She knew her mother didn't mean to do the things she did but she couldn't help the feeling of being un loved and alone in the world. If only her dad hadn't left. Things would have been fine. So after that she just wanted to make proud. But to do that she had to find out what it was he was looking for. So she started reading vampire novles. She was now sure she knew everything about vampires, all the different types, the different blood everything, but she had not come any closer to discovering what it was she had done that day.

Maria was brought out of her thoughts by the gentle, feather touch of a hand on her shoulder.

"Maria, aren't you going to sit down." _Kaname._

"Um. Yeah, sure."

Kaname, watched, chuckled, listened and smiled to the emerald eyed girl with short crisp brown hair sitting across from him. Kaname owed a lot to that girl, she was the reason he and Yuki could live peacefully in the academy. She lifted everyone's spirits and as with everyone else, even Zero she was like a sister to them. It was horrible to think that people would treat her badly. If he could he would make them pay. Maria was talking about a new anime she had been watching, Maria had this fascinating way of getting everyone's attention. She could be explaining anything and it could make you laugh, cry or just put you in a trance. Kaname often told her she should be an actress or a public speaker, but no, Maria was focused on becoming a mangaka and nothing was going to stand in her way.

Maria went to take a sip of coke and spat it out in horror.

"What the hell is this stuff?" She exclaimed examining the drink, holding it up to the light. Kaname laughed and then Yuki laughed, Maria laughed and finally the headmaster laughed. Kaname tried to put his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing but it did not work. Maria's face was a picture of pure comedy.

"Oh, that's the headmaster's _special style,_ made just for you!" That made them all laugh even harder. All Kaname's thoughts of the trails that lay ahead had disappeared all in that moment.

Zero watched the happy scene from the doorway. It repulsed him to see them so happy, especially when it was Kaname Kuran who was making them laugh so much, it wasn't that funny.

Zero had stormed to his room after his outburst. He hated how everyone sided with Kaname, he had them all wrapped around his little finger. But not him, even if he was a pureblood there was no way he would be bowing down to Kaname. Zero couldn't believe the headmaster had agreed to let Maria stay here. Zero had finally made the change. He hurt Yuki, who could say he wasn't going to hurt her as well. Also the school is the home to vampires, Maria is a curious, imaginative girl she is bound to find out sooner or later. How could this end well? The headmaster had said she had suffered recently and needed her family. Well that's understandable, but couldn't they just go visit her instead of her having to move in?

Zero found Maria irritating and annoying sometimes but she had a kind heart and did not deserve what was bound to happen sooner or later. Right at this very moment he was getting thirsty. He turned from the door and headed for the bathroom, just walking made him heave. There he found the emergency blood tablets. He ran the tap and gulped them down along with the tap water. He felt a pang in his throat and he choked up the blood tablets instantly, they were horrific, he could never keep them down. He tried again, same thing happened. After doing this several times he vomited. He had pushed his body too hard. He was quickly washing away the evidence when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." He rasped, expecting it to be Yuki. Yes, a brown head of hair come through, but it did not belong to Yuki, it was Maria's.

"Hi, umm I heard you vomiting and thought I better check up on you. Are you alright?" She asked peering over him. Zero looked up from the hard, cold flooring. Marias pale, porcelain skin shimmered under the artificial light.

"Oh, gosh you look terrible!" She exclaimed. Rushing over to him, clutching his face in her hands. Her hands were cold, giving light relief to his banging head.

"Have you got a fever? Is it a bug?" Maria ran her hands over his face, checking for a temperature. It sent tingles up his spine. He didn't feel right, he needed to get out of here, luckily for her his blood lust hadn't completely taken over him.

"Shall I call for someone?" She asked.

"No. Im fine." He tried to get up but failed. Maria looked into his eyes. Her eyes glistened and darted over him with concern.

"You are going nowhere. I'll put some towels under a cold tap. Okay?"

Zero nodded, he defiantly preferred this version of Maria to the teasing annoyance she usually was to him. She was about to leave when Zero laughed under his breath.

"The towels are there." He pointed to the wall next to her. _Yep. Maria is still her blind self even when she is caring._

"Oh, sorry." Maria took a small pink towel off the rank and put it under the tap, ringing it before placing it on his head. Usually Zero would of stopped her and left as soon as possible but there something about the look in her eyes that made him stay there, it reminded him of his mother and he realised this was the first time that anyone apart from Yuki had fretted over him like his mother used to, in fact this was the first time Maria had ever been sympathetic to him, and it felt good, had this childish girl finally grown up? He wanted this moment to last forever.

Zero felt his skin tingle as Maria wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. She was so close he could hear her heart beating, and could smell the sweet scent of her shampoo and felt the brush of her soft hair against his cheeks. It was a hug. A real one, not a silly, teasing one. Zero didn't understand what this meant; he didn't know whether to bolt, or to stay in the girls arms.

"What are you…?"

"Giving you a hug, silly." She whispered.

"I can't count the times I've needed a hug and not got one." She continued. She started to rock him like he was a child. Zero held onto her as if needing support, and rested his head in her hair, breathing in her scent, forgetting all the troubles in the world, he didn't know why he was doing this, he didn't know if it meant anything or not, his emotions were all mixed up, before he could not of imagined something like this ever happening between them, he had never been that close to her he must just be another sad kid to her, why all this kindness? A sudden rush of sadness flooded over him. His grip on her tightened.

"So im giving you one, to stop you from being sad." She then brought him up from the floor and stood back .and wiped a tear from his eye. Zero rubbed his eyes. He hadn't realise he'd been crying. She then grinned.

"Ha. I court you! And who says boys don't cry." There's the Maria he knew, _she was just being friendly _he reassured himself_ probably making up for what she had_ _called me earlier_. She gave him a weak smile as if to say "sorry I couldn't help it" Zero chuckled and ruffled her hair. Then a voice came from outside, it was Yuki calling for Maria.

"Um. Sorry I've got to go." She turned to the door.

"See you tomorrow."

"Maria! It's going to get dark soon! We should get you to your dorm quickly!"

"Alright! Keep your hair on!" She yelled. Before she left she gave Zero one last look.

"See ya." And before he could answer, she left.

Maria had left and Zero couldn't help but feel strange warmth in his heart that he could not explain. Maria had taken with her, her warmth and as quickly as she had taken away his pain it came back. And his blood lust hit him like storm. He knew her arrival had been a bad idea.

**Well how was it? Im so worried. I put a lot of effort into this but im still not confident. I hope to hear from you guys so don't leave me hanging. Do you think I should continue? Yes, the you didn't get fresh blood yet, but its going to happen later. Please reveiw and check out my vampire knight and Haruhi Suzumiya crossover and mine and maisie's interviews. Review make me happy.**


	2. Confused emotions in the red sea

**Konnichi wa! Hello! So I just re read the last chapter and I realised how bad it is! I hate it! And it annoys me as what I've got planned for this story is really good, but it seems I can't do it So I have decided to redeem myself and give it another shot. Okay… Deep breath in, and write.**

Fresh Start, Fresh Blood

Chapter 2: Confused Emotions in the Red Sea

As they walked through the corridors Maria replayed the last event over and over in her mind. She had never been as close to Zero as she was with the others. But today they had had a connection, like they finally understood each other. When she had seen him so vulnerable and sorrowful on the cold bathroom floor she had felt a sudden urge to protect him, look after him even. His problems were her problems and his tears would be her tears. There was also something else that she felt, stronger than friendship, something she had never felt before. Could it be? No it was not possible. She shook her head. Zero was annoying, grumpy and a kill joy. Why would she even suggest that? He was a brother not a… No she would not say it. But if it wasn't that then what could it be? When they had held onto each other, all the troubles she had experienced vanished and she knew he felt the same way. It was as if they had found someone to hold onto in the darkness, someone they could trust, someone who knew how they felt. Someone to care for.

They came to a stop outside one of the many doors that lined the walkway. Yuki knocked at the door. The door swung open before Yuki had finished knocking, she almost fell in.

"Opps. Mind your step Yuki!" Giggled an exited girl with mad, frizzy blonde hair chopped to the chin and loud blue eyes that glistened mischievously in the setting sun. the girl turned to Maria and stuck out her hand.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! Im Flossy Caption," Maria took her hand which Flossy began to shake violently.

"Umm. Nice to meet you too, Im Maria Sakura." She said, nervously.

"And im…!"

"Ah!" Something jumped onto her back.

"Chihiro. Hello!" Said the girl, jumping off Maria's back to display herself to her. Maria could see what Yuki had meant when she said Chihiro was the only one who was shorter than her, Chihiro was tiny with a bob of straight brown hair that was parted in the middle and dark green eyes.

"Hi." Replied Maria. She was beginning to like these girls, they seemed like her in a way, and she knew once her nervous streak was gone she would fit in just fine. Yuki turned to her.

"Will you be OK? Or shall I stay for a bit?" She asked.

"She'll be _fine _Yuki. Run along now." Chihiro sang, who had already linked arms with Maria as if they were best friends. Chihiro kept on lifting her feet of the ground, so Maria had to support her body weight, which made a very funny image of Maria suddenly being pulled to the ground as if by gravity. Which Maria would soon find to be a regular occurrence.

"Well bye then." Said Yuki.

"Bye." Chorused the girls.

After Yuki had left, Maria got down to un packing her stuff. Flossy told were everything was kept and then left her to get on with it. She took out her most important stuff first, there was her teddy which she had had since she was born, her retro Nintendo 3DS, an antique that would now fetch millions, her sketch book, which held her most treasured work ,and a photo of her family's last Christmas together. She thought back to that day, the last time they were truly happy. The next day her father had disappeared, no one asked questions, everyone got on with their lives, it was as if he had been erased from history. When she cried for him, or asked where he was, she was ignored, and as her mother grew more, and more mad, Maria realised how much she needed him. How much they all needed him. Maria started to whimper.

"Hey, kid! Hey, Maria!" Flossy called.

"Maria?" Flossy cocked her head to one side in concern. Chihiro whacked her on the head with a note pad she had been writing in.

"Flossy, don't be so insensitive! Look, its Maria's first day she's bound to be experiencing home sickness." Maria turned to them, rubbing her eyes on her sleeve.

"No it's not that, it's just…"

"What?" Asked Flossy.

"Flossy you're doing it again!" Screamed Chihiro whacking Flossy again. Flossy must have been used to it as she didn't seem to care much about the treatment she getting from her roommate.

"Look." Said Chihiro.

"Whatever's bothering you we can fix it! We are the masters of comedy. You could help us with are next masterpiece. Tell her Flossy!"

"Well we are creating a story, it's about, wait for it, wait for it, the murder of BOB THE BUILDER!" Maria laughed.

"Ha! That sounds hilarious! Who kills him?" Maria asked, already forgetting her last thoughts.

"POSTMAN PAT!" Squealed Chihiro.

"And POLICEMAN PLOD has to solve the mystery!" Contained Flossy.

"This is gonna be awesome guys! So basically you're turning loveable cbeebies characters into blood thirsty creatures?" The girls nodded.

"I LOVE IT. So here's what you gotta do…" Maria and the girls got to work on their creation.

Before going to bed Maria decided to read. The book she was reading was Twilight, it was the oddest thing. She had read a few vampire romances, but not like this, maybe this was the book she had been waiting for. Twilight was an old classic, it apparently started this whole revolution of vampire stories, after its release it created this huge explosion of vampire novels, which was good as it gave Maria plenty to read. The thing was that at the end of the twenty first century there was a giant global warming issue so most films, computers, electricity had been destroyed and along with it books became destroyed and so there wasn't many copies being made. Maria was lucky to find it in a car boot sale one day. As Maria read she started to become fascinated by all the new ideas she had never considered. She read until she fell asleep.

_Maria gazed up into the darkness .Nothing but black. She opened and closed her eyes several times trying to make sense of her surroundings. On the fifth or sixth time she saw four pairs of blurry dots. She rubbed her eyes and when she looked closer she was shocked to realise that they weren't dots at all, but eyes, glowing, red, beacons in the darkness. One pair of eyes was far away another even further, and the last two were hovering over her head. Their eyes full of curiosity. _

"_Ahh!" She screamed._

"_Shhh little one." Coaxed the voice that came from the eyes on the right. It was a woman's voice. Something slithered along here hair. _

"_Ah!"_

_The fear of the unknown. Maria had never been scared of the dark. Her mother said she was special because of it. Maria was a goth at heart and she liked the dark, she also found it very hard to sleep if there was the tiniest bit of light in the room. But tonight she felt herself panicking. __**The slither must have been the woman, not a snake **__she told herself. But she could not stop the fear that was growing inside of her. There could be anything in this strange place, anything, she needed to keep calm, keep calm._

"_Shhh." Whispered the voice. The creature stroked her. It made her skin crawl._

"_What a fine specimen." Cold hands grabbed hold of her head, forcing her chin upward, the grasp was so strong ,she thought if she tried to resist her head would rip off. The creature directed her head to the second pair of eyes, the eyes looked away from her like it was embarrassed, or disagreed with what the woman was saying. It was hard to tell when you couldn't see its features._

"_Come now." Chuckled the voice._

"_You want me to have the first taste? Ha, you spoil me too much."_

_**Taste?**_

_Suddenly the eyes from above her disappeared and then reappeared at what Maria could only guess as her feet. Stone hands grabbed hold of her right foot and something wet and rough licked against it. Maria squealed and pulled away, bumping into the body that belonged to the sad eyes, only to dislocate her knee, she drew in a sharp breath and cried out a very weak_

"_Help!"_

"_Hold onto her." Ordered the woman. The sad crimson eyes went up and down as if nodding and two strong arms came down onto her chest, keeping her stuck to the spot. She was sure that if she moved, those arms would crack open her ribcage._

"_Don't worry." Whispered the woman. She could feel her hot breath on her toes. She raised the limp leg to her lips_

"_This won't hurt a bit." Suddenly a huge flood of pain rushed up her body. It felt like a hundred knifes had torn into her skin and gouged out her insides._

"_Aaarrrrggghhh!" She gave out an ear piercing scream, which seemed to never end, just pain, the ripping of bones and endless pain._

"_Release her!" Commanded the creature. Her eyes disappeared from view as she made her way back to the servant._

"_I'll leave you to enjoy the rest." The second pair of eyes followed after the other as she retreated into the vail of black._

_Nothing had happened in a while and Maria decided to look around her, thinking that maybe her eyes would adjust and she'd be able to make sense of this strange world. She tried to get up, but some sort of weight pushed her back down. She slowly lifted her head off the ground (?) she had stopped feeling her legs and was worried that that creature had destroyed or even eaten them. She gasped. She was lucky to not see the mangled horror of her body, but instead she saw something just as disturbing. A sea of unnatural, florescent red blood streamed down her legs and gathered below her. __**Was red the only colour that existed here? **_

"_Beautiful, isn't it." Said the second pair of eyes. The voice was gruff, but gentle, she recognised it. As the man stared down at the crimson liquid his eyes turned hungry and flared even brighter, something else began to glow. A crest. She knew that tattoo anywhere._

"_Z-Zero?" She whispered. Maria reached for him. In an instant he swiped her hand and lay it to his cheek, he closed his eyes and breathed her in._

"_Oh Maria you clever girl." Suddenly Zero's image was revealed. His skin was as white as snow, red stained his pure crisp shirt, his eyes burning like flames, he was wearing a demented smile like one those creepy grinning puppets that hang in your grandparents house. She turned her head to see if any of the others images had been revealed. But no. They still looked on like a lion at his pray. She looked back at Zero, his expression was the scariest thing she had ever laid eyes on, but for some strange reason, she could not look away, she was in a trance, the beast that sat before her was her master, she was his now, there was no going back, she could try to run, but she would just get caught in her strings. Zero rolled up her sleeve, giving her a wicked lovely smile that made her want to melt. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she should try to escape, run, a voice was screaming at her to wake up, surely with her knowledge she should know what was coming, but no, she was heading for death. Like a rabbit to the head lights. All she could do was stare._

_Zero rolled down the sleeve of Maria's night gown , he caressed her arm with his lips, his eyes never leaving hers. Sending ripples of pleasure and fear through her entire body. _

"_Arrrrgh" the pain came back, this time more painful than the last. Spasms of delight followed by pinching of a thousand jaws, then the horror of knives gauging out her insides and finally, the wicked teasing of numbness before starting all over again. She could feel her blood swimming up her veins, flowing into Zero's lips. The trance he had had her in vanished and Maria's mind for a second cleared._

"_Wha…?" She looked on in fear at the fangs that sank into her arteries. The glowing of the crimson liquid ran down her slender frame, outlining it in the darkness. Zero didn't seem to be paying any attention to her. He was in heaven, he revealed in pleasure._

_After what had seemed like for ever Zero throw her to the ground, like a stubborn child after finding that he did not get the latest Ben Ten game but a plush toy instead. His eyes ran over her, like he was searching for a reaction. She was too weak to respond. He leaned over her. She could feel his hot breath on her cheeks._

"_This is what I am, Maria. This is what you are." He said in a husky voice. The blood on his lips splatted onto her face. She winced._

"_Im not like that and neither are you!" She barked. She believed in Zero. She knew this thing that was in front of her was not who it was made out to me. Inside was the real Zero, the kind, loving person he really was, and she was determined to bring that out of him._

"_Yes, you're not the most obviously kind person in the world but…" Zero chuckled darkly._

"_Heh, heh, heh, I am far from kind, but you my dear are the cruellest." Maria narrowed her eyes in confusion. __**What was he talking about?**_

"_What?" Zero's eyes widened, her grabbed her hand played with her fingers. Maria could not escape his iron grip, she was trapped, there was no were to run._

"_You just couldn't leave me alone could you?" he moaned, his grip tightening._

"_Owch! Zero your hurting! What are you talking about?"_

"_Don't act innocent!" He shouted, he bit into her fingers._

"_Arrgh! Zero stop it! I seriously have no idea what you're talking about!" Zero ignored her._

"_You kept pestering me, ever since you got to the academy, you wouldn't get out of my face! You haunted me, night and day till I-I, just, just... But you just didn't learn. The things you've done, the people you've hurt!" He looked close to tears, he let go of her._

"_So- so me and – and… we had to teach you a lesson. Do you realise now? How it feels to be loved and then thrown away and stamped on like last year's piece of trash?" Zero wiped his eyes with his blood stained shirt._

"_Zero, I still have no idea what you're saying, where am I, why am I her. What happened to me?_

"_You never listen!" Zero had stopped his tears and was now cackling wildly._

"_This is your lair! You LIVE here! HA, HA! You want to know what happened to you HUH? Do ya? Then take a look." Zero pointed to a mirror that had suddenly been made visible. She stumbled over it. For the first time, noticing the ground below. It was slippery and bumpy, like the rocks at the seaside. To stop herself from falling she held onto something stringy and slick that felt like seaweed. She climbed over to the mirror. As she reached it, her image became clear, her hair was as black as night, her pyjamas were red, as she looked closer she found it was not dye, it was blood. Her eyes were as red as Zero's and fangs protruded from her stunning white teeth._

"_Oh, my, god." She whispered. Zero giggled as he looked at her stunned expression. He creped over to her tucked her lose hair behind her ears and whispered to her._

"_Look at all that blood…" Zero cackled louder, his pupils grew smaller, his eyes grew bigger, his mouth widened, showing hundreds of sharp teeth, he continued to laugh, he fell to the ground._

_Suddenly her surroundings lit up. She wasn't standing on rocks, oh no they were bodies, thousands of bloody bodies. She knew every single one of them and she remembered killing them all. She screamed, cried for help. She turned to the thing she had been holding on to all this time and gasped to find that it was not seaweed, but hair, long thick hair,. She backed away, only to trip over fall into a black hole, created by the dead. Thousands of dead faces stared at her, in a flash their eyes snapped open and they chanted._

"_Wake up, wake up, wake up" Above her she could still here Zero giggling away. She screamed, and screamed, begging for them to stop, and suddenly, everything went black._

_**X-X-X**_

"Wake up Maria! Maria! Wake up! For the love of God please wake up!" Shouted Flossy.

"What's wrong with her?" Moaned Chihiro, who was rubbing her eyes and yawning from lack of sleep. Flossy ignored her.

"Maria, WAKE UP!" Flossy grabbed her pillow from her bed and throw it at Maria.

"Owch! What was that for?" Maria cried.

"What was that FOR?" Exclaimed Flossy.

"What was that for? That was for waking up the entire dorm, with your screaming!" Shouted Flossy.

"I was screaming?" murmured a very blurry eyed Maria.

"Yes! Luckily for you missy, we are at the end of the corridor, far anyway from anyone else, so as no one has come knocking yet, it's safe to say no one heard you."

_Or they just couldn't be bothered to get out of bed. _ She thought. Maria, had been screaming for hours, first it was just little moans, then it grew louder and louder till at about 7 o'clock she broke into full on screaming, it was now half seven, Flossy had been trying to wake her up for nearly an hour. She was surprised Chihiro had only just woken up.

"What were you dreaming of?" Said Chihiro, who was leaning on Flossy like she was a teddy bear. Flossy tried to get her off, but no, Chihiro was stuck to her like sticky tape, and even if she did get her off, she would jest hit her with something. Maria sat up, she didn't look well, her skin was icy pale and she had dark rings around her eyes, she looked like a ghost. Maria rubbed her head.

"Urm, you know what, I can't remember." She shrugged her shoulders and slipped out of bed, throwing on her dressing gown and flicking out her trapped hair.

"You don't remember? A dream which made you _scream _in your _sleep." _ Flossy followed Maria into the bathroom, while she brushed her teeth. Maria spat the tooth paste out.

"Yes." She stated.

"bu…"

"Leave her Flossy." Said Chihiro, stirring her friend back into the bedroom. Once they we're out of Maria's sight, Flossy grabbed Chihiro by the shoulders and whispered.

"Chihiro, im sorry, I know I shouldn't push her but _come on_, shouldn't we be worrying about her? I know you were asleep most of the time. But you've got to believe me. She was _screaming for like half an hour."_

"You've just got to keep calm, she seems fine."

"Keep calm? Keep _calm?"_

"Yes." She groaned.

"Look Floss, this will probably be a onetime thing, okay? For gods sakes the girl doesn't even remember what it was she was scared of. It can't be that bad, can it?" Flossy took a deep breath, and sighed.

"I suppose your right."

"Yes I am. Now come on, im hungry."

**X-X-X**

Zero sat in his room, he had been woken up by screaming, his room was attached to the girls dorm building, so he would sometimes her them chatting away. They weren't really noisy so he didn't care much. Annoyingly for him though, he and Yuki both had keys to the door outside his, that led to the other dorms, so Yuki could barge into his room whenever she wanted, had she forgotten that he chose this room because he wanted to be _alone. _Maria would probably have said something like "It's his emo hole Yuki, and you don't want to disturb an emo." Maria. Before he had gone to bed he had thought a lot about what had happened that night. He still didn't quite get it. In the end he had dismissed the idea that she actually cared for him. She had never paid any attention to him before so why now? Then he had come to the sickening conclusion, it wasn't because of what he was like inside, it was how he looked. He was a vampire now, and she must have been attracted to him for his predator looks and smell. It disgusted him to the very core.

The screaming had worried him for a second, but then he remembered who was in the dorm next door. Flossy and Chihiro. They were always doing something crazy. One time he heard Flossy scream. "It's alive!" According to Yuki they had gone out to see Frankenstein and when they got back they tried to make their own creation. Zero really didn't want to see that. Another time he heard Chihiro say "Come on Mr Hamster, swim!" Apparently, the whole of the day class girls had squashed into their bathroom to watch there hamster swim 20 laps across the bath! Apparently it worked! They were in the Guinness book of world records! They had been training it for weeks.

So anyway Zero had decided not to worry, till he herd Flossy say "Maria!" Zero had jolted from the bed._ Maria? What happened?_ Zero changed into his uniform, it was a Sunday but oh well, he was on the disciplinary committee so he had an excuse. He sprinted down to their door and was about to barge in when he heard whispering.

"I still wonder what was wrong with her." Flossy's voice.

"Oh Floss, get over it okay." Chihiro was in her angry mode. Which would make anyone who was not used to her, laugh their head off. Chihiro was so tiny and innocent looking it would always surprise you when she would groan or swear. There was a classic thing she did to people (well only people who knew her, otherwise they could get offended) she put the most repulsed face imaginable on and walk up to them and say "You disgust me" or "How could you" it was very funny. Unfortunately for Zero, she would always choose the wrong time to do it to him. And it would always get him down.

Zero knocked at the door.

"Who is it?" Chihiro snapped in her granny voice.

"It's Zero."

"ZERO!" Flossy's voice. Had she already forgotten he was next door?

"You're not allowed in the _girls_ dorm!" She tutted.

"Look, I heard screaming and I was worried."

"That was ages ago." Stated Chihiro.

"Look, can't I just come in." He said, gently.

The door creaked open. _Finally. _Chihiro pocked her nose out and said.

"No." She slammed the door.

Zero sighed.

"_Please."_

There was some mumbling behind the door. The finally, it opened.

"Why didn't you say so before? I love a man with good manners!" Said Chihiro in her creaky granny voice. Zero just shook his head.

"Where's Maria?"

"I'll go see if she's ready." Said Flossy. She trotted over to the bathroom.

"Maria." Whilst Flossy was talking to Maria, it seemed Zero had to make conversation.

"Umm. So, Chihiro… Ummm… What are you looking at?" Chihiro was looking above his head. He sweeped round to see if there was something behind him, but there wasn't. He turned back to find Chihiro shaking her head as if coming out of deep thought. She looked at him.

"Oh, sorry, there was a racoon on your head." She said, in utter seriousness. It would have made him laugh, but he didn't feel sociable, instead he gave her a stern look.

"Riiiiighht…"

"Ugh. Zero no one's gonna like you if you act so damn serious all the time." Chihiro's words echoed round his head. Someone had said that once before to him. Yes, it was her.

_They had all gone on holiday to England. Everyone came, Maria's family, even Kaname Kuran who, was of course was there for Yuki. They had gone to England because it was the only place where the weather would change; it was forecast to be wet. So Kaname and Zero would not have to worry about the sun too much. Unfortunately, the weather had had a dramatic change, and they experienced a heat wave. _

_They were in Devon, sitting on a very overcrowded beach. "Bigbury on Sea". Both sides of the beach were surrounded by sea and on the right was an island with a pub and an art deco hotel, above it was a very steep cliff leading to some ruins. Zero had not been paying attention to what they were, he didn't care. The heat was horrendous. The sun usually didn't bother him much, but it was so hot, it hurt. The beach was a sun trap. And with all the people, Zero was starting to get really uncomfortable. Zero wanted to go to Bantham beach. The quieter beach next door. It had some shade and was quite idyllic. But no, the girls wanted to go here as it was a big tourist attraction. They were going stay here till the tide came in and then go on the "Sea Tractor" that would take them up to the pub for dinner. As Zero's opinion didn't matter, he was now stuck there. In the middle of thousands of people. And having to watch Kaname be fawned over by mums. Yes you heard correctly, mums. Kaname was only 14 so he still wasn't older enough to have girls squeal at him. So instead, older woman would go up to Kaien and so what a cute boy his son he was. After the tenth time, Maria's dad Raiden pretended he couldn't speak English and eventually woman stopped coming._

_Zero was now sat in the tent watching in disgust as Yuki, Maria and Kaname messed around in the sand. They were making a fort, to protect them when the tide comes rolling in. They made a kind of sandcastle thing in the middle, with deep canals for the water to channel through. The adults kept telling him that he should join in but no. There was no way he would socialise Kuran. Nothing in the world would ever make him do that._

_It was lunch when Zero heard the adult's talking about the happy group._

"_Oh aren't Yuki and Maria just to peas in a pod." Said Maria's bubbly mother. She was a colourful woman with curly brown hair with red and purple high lights. She was an actress who starred in many gothic and horror films._

_All the parents turned to the kids. They were frolicking about in the sea now. Maria seemed it have dived in. Her cloths were completely soaked and she flapping her hands about, eyes squashed closed, she seemed to be in pain for the sting of the sea water. Yuki was joking about saying she would help her but the water was too cold and she didn't want to get wet. Then suddenly Kaname tipped toed behind Yuki, wrapped in his arms around, lifted her up, Yuki squealed._

"_No, please, Kaname, don't throw me in, don't throw me in, don't throw me- Arr!" Kaname tossed Yuki into the icy waters with a devilish grin on his face, he waded over to Maria and they hi fived each over, Yuki surfaced, with a red face and seaweed stuck in her brown locks._

"_Oh look what we have found Kaname! A mermaid!" Yuki scowled at them._

"_I could have seriously injured myself, you know." They just laughed._

"_Kaname, I think this mermaid is dangerous! Run away!" Yuki started chasing after them, using seaweed as a weapon._

_The parents laughed at them._

"_Oh aren't they cute." Continued Maria's mum._

"_You'd think Kaname was their big brother, wouldn't you? He's just so sweet to them!" Zero spat out his sandwich in disgust._

"_He's not family!" Zero jumped from his tent. _

"_Im gonna get an ice cream." The headmaster got up from the sand._

"_But you haven't finished your lunch!"_

"_I don't want it. It's full of sand!" Zero stormed off._

_**X-X-X**_

_Zero had ended up having a walk around the coast for a bit. He had to clear his head. He hated how everyone fell in love with Kaname when he knew that eventually he would betray them. He also hated how Yuki loved him; she worshipped the ground Kaname stood on. Whenever he came round, Yuki would stay up late so she could see him. It was disgusting._

_By the time Zero had got back to the beach the tide was coming in and the trio were inside their fort. They were yelling and teasing each other, Maria's mother was right they did look like one big happy family. Maria tripped over the moat they had made and did a face plant right below were Zero was standing. She looked up at him and then gave him the awkward turtle and pushed herself up. Her clothes were still wet from earlier so all the sand stuck to her, she didn't bother to wipe it off, instead she wiped her sandy hands on his shirt._

"_Now you look like you've been to the beach!" She said. Zero just stared at her._

"_Come on Zero, I gave you those cloths to make you look cute." Yesterday the girls had gone shopping and came back with some distressed pastel cut offs and a pastel pink, yellow and blue stripy polo shirt for him. He had to admit it did look good on him. But it really wasn't him._

"_But it doesn't work if you don't even try to look happy!" She pouted._

"_Maria!" Yuki called. _

"_Coming! Zero, why don't you join in, it will be fun!" Maria begged._

"_No, it's not my thing." Maria crossed her arms and walked back to the others._

"_Ugh. Zero no one's gonna like you if you act so damn serious all the time!" She yelled._

_**X-X-X**_

"Zero? Hello?" Zero came back to reality with Maria clicking her fingers at him.

"When I click my fingers you will awaken, 3,2"

"Cut it out!" Snapped Zero.

"All right, alright, keep your hair on, sigh, why are you here?" Zero went blank. He had totally forgotten what it was he was here for.

"Umm… Nothing… Bye." Zero turned and left.

"Well that was weird." She said.

**Yay the return of Flossy and Chihiro! They are based on my friends, they've been in another of my fanfictions and have returned in this one! Seriously everything I say about them is true (except their experiments) you will never meet anyone like them, and some of the randomest stuff they say is true. Like the thing about the racoon. She actually said that to me once and the story their making. That's actually something me and Flossy are making, we might even publish it. Oh and another thing. I discovered Hetalia this holiday, and well Flossy's half German, and she is nothing like him which is funny as she is the classic blue eyed blond haired, master race thing. But she's got a big imagination so England fits her perfectly.**

**Anyway enough about that! You wouldn't believe how hard it has been to write this. I don't know why I feel so negative about this but I am. I was so scared I wouldn't re read it till the end. I kept on saying that a couple of people had favourited it so it must be good, but it wasn't till I got a review (thanks Kaname 3) that I got a kick up the backside and was just like "Roxie just finish it already" So phew! I am now out of my depressed state and have got a big weight off my shoulders. Okay so what did you think? Was it as good as the last one, is Maria a good character? What did you think of the holiday? Do you make forts? I remember when I first went to that beach no one made them and each year more and more people started doing it. Did we start a trend? I doubt it. Thanks to everyone who has favourited, alerted or reviewed this story. I've now forgotten what else I was going to say so**

**BYE-NEE!**

**P.S please R&R my new fanfic 20 reasons why vampire knight is better than twilight**

**P.P.S just remembered what I was gonna say!LOL! Um, well i've decided if this story gets more reviews than my haruhi/vk crosover then i will priorites this one and make sure to get a chapter out per week. Its very easy to do, i've had 6 reviews but they were only by 2 people so really I only need to more, so if you like this then even more reason to review! Sorry if im being a nag. God this is a long author notes.**

**Okay see ya!**

**Thankyou!**


	3. What lies behind the mask

**Chapter 3: what lies behind the mask**

**Hi all! Gosh it's been a while hasn't it? Well it seems this break has done me good, I am now out of my depressed state, thanks to a very kind reviewer (thankyou ****sukikyt) who really gave me a well needed boost and convinced me to re-read this, oh and also thank you Kaname3 for also giving me boost. Also im sure fanfiction has something against me. I always check several times before submitting my work for spelling errors. And then I'll post it and there will be words missing, spellings wrong all over the place, I just don't get it. And then, the worst part I'll go back and change it and it won't work. It's so annoying! So at the moment im in word so everything seems fine, but I bet your reading this now and it's all gone wrong. ARRGH!**

**Anyway sorry for my outburst, on with the show!**

**Summary:**

**Maria starts school**

The rest of the day flew by. Yuki took her round town, they ate at the local café, and Yuki introduced her to her friend Yori, she seemed quite shy at first, but by the end of the day she had grown on her, she was happy to have already made some friends.

Maria was surprised to find that they hadn't crossed paths with Zero at all that day. But she was glad. Since seeing him that morning, she had become a little uneasy. It wasn't like the night before, where she had felt safe and happy, now she felt very afraid. Though she had no idea why. She was very scared of what she had been dreaming about. The fear of the unknown. It must have been something terrible if it was so bad it made her scream. One half of herself wanted to dig deep into her mind and find what it was, but the other half told her to forget it, move on, as that was the safest place to be. In some way her brain seemed to be telling her to stay away from Zero, she felt as if something might happen to her if she saw him. It was best stay away.

It was Monday now, the start of her new school life. She made her way down the musty wooden steps towards her classroom; she could hear the distant screams of the teens as she approached. She tugged at the heavy door and clumsy fell in.

The room was very odd; not what she was used to. There were huge stone steps leading up the class room with damp wooden pews lining each one, in front of these desks was the teachers sleek table and screechy chalk board.

Maria searched the room for Flossy and Chihiro. The classroom held a cast of quirky characters, there was the school nerds, with their boxy faces and clumsy glasses, there were the chavs with skin as bright as an orange, pink lip-gloss burning their winkled lips and skirts so high they could cause a health hazard. Finally she found them; they had already saved her a seat. It seemed they had noticed her a while ago as Chihiro seemed to be pointing wildly beside her and Flossy was waving her arms around like she was waving down a plane. Maria trotted up the steps and plopped herself down on the splintered seat.

"Wow!" she said. "When was the last time this school invested in the classroom?" "Not since it had been built I think." Pondered Flossy. "Yeah, they've always got enough money to deck out the dining hall and revamp the ball room." "Or pamper the Night Class" Added Flossy.

The night class… Oh yes she remembered now. That's where Kaname was, she wished Zero was there as well so she wouldn't have to face him today, she hated this fear, this irrational fear than seemed to creep over her skin when she thought of him. It wasn't right.

"Everyone could you all settle down _please." _Commanded the teacher as he marched to the desk. He was an odd fella with a mop of grey hair that slopped over his scalp like a wet flannel, and deep creases that seemed to be carved into his skin like a grave stone. Should he really be still working?

Though he was old, he did seem to have a strong presence that would stop everyone in their tracks. Everyone zipped their mouths and took their seats each one wincing as they splintered their skin.

"Now it seems we have a new student, Miss…"

"Sakura." Said Maria, who had decided to examine a very_ interesting_ scribble on her desk. "Umm tell us about yourself yadder, yadder." "Umm…well…I" She stammered. "Don't just sit there like a train wreck, come out to the front!" he beckoned.

Maria nervously got herself up from her desk and with shaky legs made her way down to the teacher, her legs were so wobbly she was worried they were gonna buckle underneath her at any second. She clung to the desks as she went down.

"There, now, im Mr Numaki and-" The door slammed open to reveal a silver storm of hair and very grumpy looking owner. Yes it could only be, Zero.

"Sorry im late." He mumbled.

In the crowd of people, Maria could hear whispers.

"God its Zero, I was hoping he'd be ill or something, not that it's unusual for him to be late or anything"

"Well he didn't come out of his room at all yesterday…so…"

"According to Chihiro he stormed into their room on Sunday. I know right! He's such a perv."

"He shouldn't be on the disciplinary committee."

Maria suddenly felt a wave of sadness for him, yes he could be scary, in fact she was scared of him now but he didn't deserve viscous rumours and frightened eyes boring in his every second. Maria carefully took a glance at him. His eyes leaked with sorrow and his body heaved with anger. He tilted his head towards her and their eyes locked, suddenly the sights and noises disappeared, and there was no one but them, his violet eyes swam with emotion, she felt herself being pulled in by his gaze, she felt like she did that night, the need to go to him and comfort him, make sure he was alright, let his feelings be known. She needed him to know she was there. Suddenly the universe burst back into view, with the vicious words.

"What you looking at?"

_What happened Zero?_

**Sorry for it being so short but I thought you guys would want something after being so patient over the past months. Sorry again. Please review, give me ideas, or criticism, I'd love to know how to improve. Thanks again to my reviewers! You two are awesome. Especially as (im guessing) you aren't even members and are the only ones bothering to express your thoughts. Thank you, thank you! **


	4. Authors note!

Authors note

Hi guys it's me! Im really happy that you have all taken such an interest in this story! I really wasn't expecting it! Especially when I was in my negative mode at the start of this. Now im very sorry I've been so inconsistent in the release of each chapter, I hope you stay with me, heheh…I bet your quite annoyed that this isn't the long "exciting" chapter you were hoping for… I think I need to explain my self.

So firstly I have had writers block, I know EXACTLY where this is going, but as I've said before this is a filler and im finding it hard thinking how everything is going to fit together.

Secondly I have been ignoring fanfiction as of late and that's because I have been having a lot of fun of deviantART, I've just found people appreciate stuff a lot more and it's much easier to get your work out there! I've only been on it a few months and I've already got 50 watchers! After coming from here I have been so amazed at the response, jeez it's weird. Though even though I've got that many I might as well have 3 cause those are the only people who comment, so don't think it's something amazing cause it's not, and I am not someone to brag, seriously. But this is no excuse, so I am deeply sorry.

So anyway what I came here to say was to thank you all and to ask you a question. I just reread how much I have written for chapter 4 and I realised why I have stopped half way through, I have no idea what to write, so I was wondering if you would like me to post what I've got anyway, or if I should wait. I hope you guys check back regularly cause I won't be here next week so I hope you read this soon! Again thank you soooooo much!

Love ya all! Roxie xx

Replies to reviews!

Kaname 3:

I'll try not to, and thanks but im still not sure! Oh and there will be! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAR! Im planning something quite cruel, though it won't be for another few chapters at least.

xXTangleShadowXx:

Thanks! I'll try!

P.S Sukikyt I answered yours in reviews if you haven't seen


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